Drinker systems for supplying drinking water or the like to poultry typically include several drinker lines, each line having a plurality of water dispensers (e.g. nozzles, nipples or the like). Relatively high pressure water from a common water source is delivered to one or more regulators that provide water to the drinker line at a low/reduced pressure.
It is believed that the drinker systems disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,967,167 and 6,253,708 well describe the present state of the art.
On the one hand, it is advantageous to keep human interference to a minimum—i.e. provide for as much automatic control of the drinking process as possible to reduce labor and avoid disturbing the flock; while on the other hand, it is advantageous to avoid the use of electrical wires and such due to the corrosive atmosphere in poultry houses; as well as to avoid complicated systems which tend to be expensive.
It is also important to be able to change (control) the water pressure to the poultry in order to encourage proper consumption, especially in the case of growing chicks whose water requirements rapidly increase as they grow. In simpler system, changing the water pressure typically requires adjustment to each drinker line, i.e. each pressure regulator and/or pressure reduction device associated with each drinker line. Further, it is desirable to design for purging (flushing) of the drinker lines to flush residual material and the like from the lines, however, without undo complication to the system to avoid expensive design.